It’s harvest time! That beautiful, bountiful time of the year when we harvest everything possible from our brief Maine growing season. Whether you’re canning veggies, apple & pumpkin picking, or stacking firewood, this time of year can be crazy busy. Here are a few tips for storing your stash so it will remain delicious and potent for you to enjoy in the months to come.
Winter is Coming
Cannabis flower loves sunlight during the growth cycle, but finished flower wants to be stored in the dark. Nothing is better for your flower stash than storing it in an airtight container in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight. Flavor and potency can both be impacted by exposure to UV rays & high temperatures and taking steps to avoid either element is always a good plan. The ideal temperature for cannabis storage is between 60 and 68 degrees — so when the time comes to turn on the heat or fire up the woodstove this Fall, it’s not a bad idea to revisit your storage location to make sure it is not too hot.
No Air, Don’t Care
You know your cannabis flower should be stored in an airtight container. And while we’ve come a long way from secret stash false-bottom containers and plastic sandwich baggies, the sheer volume and array of products on the market for storing and sealing can be intimidating. Are you going to purchase a fancy vacuum sealer? Maybe. Do you need to? Absolutely not. Keeping your flower in an airtight container is critical for preventing oxygen exposure, which can reduce THC levels. Ideally, you want to select a container that would be at least two thirds full of flower: more cannabis in the container means less room for air that could impact quality. Glass containers are considered by many growers to be superior to plastic, especially for flower that may be stored for an extended period of time, as plastic attracts trichomes which can reduce potency.
Mold and the Great Fridge Debate
Mold. Ick. Let’s just get to it: humidity matters and moldy weed sucks. If storing flower in an airtight container in a cool, dry place is step one for stash success, avoiding mold is step two. Storing flower in your basement might seem logical: it’s cool, it’s dark….. but is it damp? At 65% humidity, cannabis runs the risk of mold growth. At 75% humidity and higher, you’re just about guaranteed to have mold. Too little humidity can also be impactful, though in a less devastating way than mold. At 50% humidity or less, the oils in the cannabis flower can start to dry out, trichomes can become brittle and break, and there can be a loss of flavor and aroma.
Can’t we solve this cold dark storage & humidity control problem by just stashing it in the fridge or freezer? NO! Please no. Not only will the extreme cold of the refrigerator cause trichomes to become brittle and break, but the humidity levels in a fridge fluctuate greatly based on how often it is opened and closed.
An easy, inexpensive option for humidity control are two-way humidity packs, which are widely available and typically cost less than $2 each. At HIGHLY we’re partial to packs that are rated for a Relative Humidity of 62%.
